


A Shadow of Humanity

by InkDomain



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Character Death, Everyone dies but Reader, Explicit Murder, Female pronouns, Other, POV Female Character, Sad, Violence, Wendigos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 11:11:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13270218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkDomain/pseuds/InkDomain
Summary: The Reader is challenged with making it off Blackwood Mountain, but their hands are stained with blood. They can make it if they have their brother, Chris, but when he's gone there's nothing left to fight for.





	A Shadow of Humanity

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my deviantART (OperationStabTheCake).  
> Not proof read.  
> Until Dawn belongs to Supermassive Games.  
> Based upon 'Lies' by Cult to Follow.  
> The sequence of events is slightly out of order to which they are presented in the game.

The artic bitterness of the snow outside still bit at your cheeks despite being inside the lodge, drawing out the colour to break up the pigment of your skin. The Washington’s lodge used to be a beacon of hope and safety, but now it was just a reminder of the horrors that had occurred this night.  
“Mike! Ash, [F/N]! Thank God!” You glance up when you hear your name being called, and for once you were happy to even see Emily let alone letting her hug you. You wrap your arms around the usually cold woman, pulling her closer to you just to reassure your battered mind that another one of your friends was alive. Once Emily leaves your arms, you are then embraced by Sam as Ash’s whimpers and light hiccups from crying are heard behind you. The sounds of moving around and thuds were heard from another part of the lodge, and in the back of your mind you registered that Mike was securing the lodge to make it safer. Sam pulls away from your slightly shaking form, the warmth from the building was getting through to your icy marrow inside your bones, and you watch as Emily takes a hold of Ash’s hands in an attempt to soothe her hysterical nature and calm her down. Sam turns to Mike, and you just hope that your idiot blonde brother is okay and safe with the stranger on the mountain with you and your friends.  
“It’s…not good up there.” Mike tells Sam, voice twined with anguish and a sense of loss as he sighs deeply through his nose. Whatever he saw, it wasn’t good, and that wasn’t the kind of news that you needed to hear right now.  
“What? What do you mean?” Emily demands, more than asks, with her eyes wide as she leaves Ashley to cry to herself. Trying to break out of your dead stare and remorseless attitude, you approach Ashley and try to calm her down. Her crying pained you, Chris cared about her more than a lot, and you felt a responsibility to make sure you were there for her. She cries into your shoulder, whimpering about how she wishes that Chris is okay out there.  
“We need the key for the cable car.” Mike announces over the sounds of sobbing, he looks around the small group to gauge the reactions before he glances around the room. A realisation hits him, and he groans as he pinches the bridge of his nose. “Josh must have it.” He runs his hand, minus two fingers, through his hair in an attempt to calm down as the panic began to rise in his stomach to wrap around his lungs and squeeze out the air. “If one of those things got him…then we’re shit outta luck.”  
“Don’t talk about him like he’s a piece of meat.” You immediately snap at Mike, growling low in your voice as he talks about Josh like he was an insane asshole who just decided to do this. He didn’t know about the curse on the mountain, he just wanted revenge for his sisters.  
“It might have taken him down the mines…I saw some bad stuff down there…I think it’s where it lives.” Emily swiftly interjects before an argument can spark between you and Mike, her eyes showing more than what her words did about what she witnessed down in the mines. She turns her back to the group to focus on the bulletin board that was hanging on the wall over the desk where Josh had planned his revenge story, but she ignores the several mugshot-style photos of everyone in the group and instead focuses on the things the stranger had left. She pushes things aside in her search, grabbing an old-looking and well-used book that was tattered and frayed, and she begins to flick through it. Judging from where you stood and what you could see from its contents, it was endless scribbles and diagrams about those creatures. 

You watch as Sam joins Emily in the search for something useful, maybe there was hints of a weapon that could be used against those things, and your eye twitches at the sudden clanging and thumps when they tip out the contents of the old man’s bag. A few things fall off of the desk, but it was useless, and the two women search through the mess of supplies the stranger had brought with him. Emily takes out a map that she found inside the contents, it looked hand-drawn and very useful in showing a quick route to the mines where Josh may be. Mike crosses the room to see if he can make any sense of the mass of scribbles from a man who had spent too much time on this mountain alone and surrounded by danger, and he comes across a newspaper clipping about the cave-in from the fifties in the mines below. He explains what he discovered in the sanatorium, recounting their unfortunate tale and how the miners had only survived by resorting to cannibalism. You find your feet carrying you to stand beside Emily, looking over the map with her as your eyes land on the mines. They sounds dangerous, they could still be susceptible to cave-ins and with monsters crawling around down there, you just hoped that Josh wouldn’t be alone down there defenceless.  
“Em…Em…?” Ashley’s meek voice pipes up over the sounds of exploring, it was so quiet that you hadn’t noticed she had spoken until you see her in your peripheral pointing a shaking finger at Emily’s shoulder. “Em, what is that…?” She asks, your eyes pointing to the area where Ashley was freaking out about.  
You hadn’t noticed when you came into the room and when she hugged you, but the fur on Emily’s jacket at fresh blood stained on it, and there were puncture marks in the faux leather. Your first instinct was to check the wound, see how deep it was and stop it from becoming infected. Your hand moves to check on her, but out of reflex she flinches away from you and recoils into herself out of defence. She shields her wounded shoulder with her hand, looking from the marked area on her jacket to Ashley who was now becoming increasingly hysterical.  
“It’s nothing, i-it just bit me-” Emily tries to explain herself, her mouth still open when Ashley cuts her off with a panicked noise and she begins to pace out of frantic paranoia.  
“It bit you?! What bit you?!” Ashley demands, and you stare at her as though she had become delusional out of thin air. You understood that she’s scared, and the abuse that she has suffered has warped her perception, but she’s creating distrust in the small group that you have right now.  
“The ah…the Wendigo.” The terror that Ashley was creating over Emily’s bite and the source of the bite was affecting Mike, it was clear he was suspicious of the injury and this was only feeding into Ashley’s paranoia.  
“The what?” Mike asks, slowly approaching his ex like she was a wounded animal that was prepared to pounce and attack in order to defend and protect itself. She curls further away from him, backwards and towards the desk as Mike’s eyes try to gauge the injury on Emily’s shoulder.  
“It’s nothing, really, it’s not a big deal-” Emily claims, touching her shoulder and not flinching to prove that her pain was nothing serious and did not require this amount of distrust.  
“You okay?” Sam asks, concerned about her, the pain of the injury, and the mental impact that being bite from a Wendigo would cause. You nod in agreement, brow furrowed with worry as Mike swears under his breath, running his fingers through his hair and trying to assess the situation.  
“It doesn’t hurt anymore. Really.” Emily insisted, still holding her hand over the wound and refusing to let anyone near her- including Sam. “It’s not that bad.” Emily was a headstrong woman, who would rather rely on herself than anyone else, but you knew when she was hurt and when she needed help. You nod a little, backing off from her as her defences stay up strong.  
“Em…” Mike cuts in, face and voice stern as his eyes swim in a darkness that you didn’t know he was capable of showing or feeling. Your stomach contracts at the expression on his face, your feet automatically moving your body away from Mike as he looks at Emily like she was wielding a hidden knife with the intent of murder. “If that thing bit you.”  
“I know what you’re thinking. And I’m fine!” Emily protests, voice turning slightly shrill as Mike turned on her the same way Ashley was. Mike tries moving closer to her, and you’re unsure if his motive is to inspect Emily’s wound, or to restrain her. Emily instinctively tries to prove her innocence, to show the rest of the group that her wound was not a sign of imminent death. The moment one of her boot-clad feet shuffles forward, Mike and Ashley move backwards and away from her, and you can visibly see the pain in her eyes at that sign of doubt in her friends.  
“Are you?” Ashley asks, the bitterness woven into her words makes you taken aback. You stare at her in disbelief, Ashley’s attitude towards Emily had turned the usually cool-headed and collected woman into panic and standing at the borderline of hysteria.  
“Yes!” Emily pleads, trying desperately to prove her innocence as the group becomes divided over her wound.  
“Emily at least let us check it out.” Sam presses in a kind voice, moving closer to the scared woman with the aim to examine her laceration. Emily wouldn’t even let Sam close to her, she moves her body, so her wounded shoulder is the furthest away from her, and her hand covers the torn jacket and stained fur.  
“Emily…If the Wendigo bit you, you could turn into one of those things.” Ashley drops that bombshell on the whole group, and you could feel her hysteria starting to leak into your own bias. You look at the rattled red-head as though she was trying to make the whole situation worse, almost as though she was willingly pushing the noose around Emily’s neck and waiting for someone else to push the wounded girl off the hangman’s post to watch her squirm.  
“Bullshit.” You exclaim, narrowing your eyes at her as her added comment serves to add more distrust and hysteria.  
“Oh, that’s ridiculous!” Sam frowns, it was clear she was in the same disbelief as you were, and neither of you were willing to let Emily dangle from the noose Ashley and Mike were tying around her neck. Sam’s scepticism is drowned out by Ashley’s hectic voice, which is rising in pitch as she starts pointing fingers in all directions because she’s scared.  
“He said it was from EATING each other- remember, he said that!” Ashley argues, moving away from Emily as though she was about to morph into a Wendigo right there in the lodge and then tear everyone’s throats out.  
“Is that how it worked?” You asked, reaching out to take the notes the old man had left behind to find is that was how this curse worked. A bite was a very different case to eating, and who eat what was also detrimental to this whole curse passing.  
“Yes!” Ashley insists, not even attempting to find a solution to this whole mess, and instead was throwing panic left, right and centre. “It happens if it bit you, you’re gonna turn into one and then you’re gonna turn on us. Oh my God, oh my God, OH MY GOD!” Ashley has fallen over the edge from hysteria into full-blown delirium. Ashley caved in on herself, wrapping her arms around her waist after pulling at her hair as her mind brought forth possibilities of Emily turning into a Wendigo and then turn on the rest of her friends.  
“You can’t be down here with us.” Mike ordered, shocking you with his sudden decision and unquestioned authority against Emily. You, Sam and Emily stared at him in a mixture of disbelief and appalment. You shake your head instantly, disagreeing with his decision as you side with Sam and Emily against Mike and Ashley.  
“WHAT?!” Emily yells in amazement at his demand, Sam yells his name as a way to bring him back to Earth and reality, a fruitless attempt to make him see that he would be sending Emily to her death by pushing her outside on her own.  
“You gotta go.” Mike reiterates what he said, unwavering in his judgement as he becomes determined to be the strong leader that makes the tough decisions for this group. He has decided on his own that Emily needs to be removed from the group, and you were not going to let that slide unquestioned.  
“Are you kidding me?!” Emily yells, holding her shoulder and still protecting it from the rest of the group as she is being backed into a corner. She wouldn’t go down without a fight, and you would be willing to leave the group with her to ensure that she wouldn’t be hurt by the dangers outside on the mountain.  
“You’re putting us ALL in danger.”  
“Mike, you’re going too far.” You protest, flinching back when Mike tells you to shut up and he shuts down any argument that would try to keep Emily safe with the group.  
“Mike, just cool your head, okay? We don’t know if it works like that. Maybe it’s just a bite.” Sam, the voice of reason, tries to get through Mike’s thick skull but his mind is made up. His judgement is unshifting, engrave in stone as the gospel truth and he truly believed that Emily was going to kill everyone in the room.  
“The door’s right there. I am letting you do this voluntarily.” Mike ignores Sam’s attempts, burning holes into Emily’s eyes as he uses his arm to point to the door that lead to the exit.  
“Oh no, you’re just making yourself feel better about sending me to my death since you know there’s a Wendigo out there ready to rip me to pieces like it did with-”  
“OKAY, OH MY GOD! WILL YOU JUST GO?!” You jump out of your skin at Ashley’s sudden scream, your head snapping towards the shaking girl as she storms past you and Mike before stopping in front of Emily. Ashley shoves her finger in her face, then points to the door to push Emily out.  
“Ashley, stop it!” You yell at her, eyebrows knitting together at the way she was behaving in this situation. She was scaring you, she was unstable at best and she seemed fine with sending one of her friends outside to be mauled to death.  
“GO! GET OUT OF HERE!” Ashley ignores you, pushing your hand off of her arm when you try to pull her back and defuse the situation. 

The distraction that Ashley was presenting had you fully focused upon the panicked woman, your hand on her arm once again to push her away and try to calm everyone down. After Ashley had roared in Emily’s face for her to get out and away from the group, you hear the distinct click of a gun in Mike’s direction. Your blood runs cold as soon as you hear it, the small noise was enough to make your heart palpitate as your gaze turns from Ashley to Mike. He stood there pointing the gun at Emily, his head unwavering as he kept her at gunpoint. Emily immediately withdrew and shrunk away from the harsh glare of the barrel, her eyes as scared as yours.  
“Mike, what the fuck?!” You squeak in a high-pitched voice, eyes wide with fear as Mike puts his finger on the trigger and kept it aimed at his ex.  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa- Mike, calm down!” Sam immediately jumps in, her hands raised as a sign of peace as she approaches him and tries to get him to lower his arms, and his aim pointed at Emily.  
“You’re going to shoot me?” Emily implores, her voice torn to pieces with an overwhelming amount of conflicting emotions as she backs herself against the edge of the desk that is placed against the wall.  
“This is a safe room, Em.” Mike tells her, there are underlying hints towards the pain he was suffering for deciding upon this difficult decision, however he was still pointing the gun at her.  
“Please!” Emily was crying now, tears streaking down her cheeks as she climbs onto the table and presses herself against the wall in an attempt to hide herself away. She shrinks into herself, trying to hide from the aim of the gun as she tries to beg and pray for a chance to stay with the group.  
“It’s not safe as long as you’re in it! Not for us!” Mike argues, his voice raising as he tries to convince himself that this is the right course of action for him to take to protect the rest of the group that was still alive.  
“No!” Emily sobs, her back heaving as she cries and turns her head away from him. This all happened so fast that your head was spinning, Sam was trying to talk Mike down from making any rash decisions, and you were just standing there like a fish out of water watching everything transpire in slow motion.  
“Don’t do this, Mike!” You hear Sam plead over the sounds of your own screams, you were vaguely aware of the wetness from your tears on your cheeks as you witnessed your friends turn on each other over unknown evidence and the prevailing poison of fear.  
“I’m really sorry.” You didn’t understand Mike’s apology until you heard the sudden burst of noise from the gun as he pulled the trigger, your heart leaping into your throat as the gun goes off faster than you could blink, and the bullet embeds itself into Emily’s head. The sickening sound of the tiny piece of metal penetrating Emily’s skull and leaving itself in her brain hit you hard, her head flies backwards and smacks against the wall before falling limply forward. In the distance you could hear Ashley screaming over the body of their friend, your eyes were glued to the floor as you doubled over and threw up the contents of your stomach. 

Mike drops the gun as he stares at the bullet hole he had created in Emily’s forehead, the way her head hung limp and the lack of life in her eyes turned him colder. Sam was screaming at him for what he just did, but you were too focused on the pain in your shoulders and collarbone as your body heaved and emptied itself. The memory of Emily’s death repeats in front of your eyes as you stare at the vomit on the floor, your body shaking violently as you hear Ashley hyperventilating.  
“You guys are safe…you guys are safe…” Mike speaks, his voice unnaturally steady for just committing murder. Sam tends to you, moving you to the corner of the room so you didn’t have to see Emily’s body and makes you sit on the floor. You pull your knees up to your chest and just stare at the floor, Sam glaring at Mike for what he had just done.  
“I…I’m gonna go get the key from Josh…” Mike announces, leaving the room and turning his back on the crime he just committed. He left behind Emily’s dead body, left behind his traumatised friends and shortly after you watch Ashley sit with you and Sam. You wipe your mouth with the back of your hand, but the acidic taste of your vomit in your mouth wouldn’t leave for a long time.  
“He did this to us…” You whisper, broken and traumatised by the events that had just transpired. You feel a slightly shaky hand on your shoulder, a thumb rubbing circles to comfort you as you see Sam’s blonde hair in the corner of your eye.  
“He was…Mike was just doing what he thought was best…” Sam tries to explain, and you felt your stomach churn once more with the threat of spilling out its contents onto the floor with the knowledge that Sam was trying to defend Mike’s actions. Her hand cups your cold cheek, the pad of her thumb brushing away the tears that were still falling. You shake your head, hair swaying slightly as you stare down at your hands and listen to Ashley’s hiccups.  
“Not Mike. Josh.” 

\----

Once the trauma had subsided into a place where you could keep it in your mind, but you had to keep moving if any of you had a chance of making it off of this mountain without loosing any more of your friends. Chris was still absent, outside in the unforgiving snow with those monsters hunting for food. You feared for him, and you prayed to any holy deity for him to be safe and to stay safe. Mike had left the group shortly after he killed Emily, using the pathways under the house to make his way to find where Josh may be in hopes of finding the cable car key. Sam left you and Ashley alone in the lodge to find Mike after she had moved Emily’s body and looked through the old man’s things, discovering more details about the Wendigos and knew that he needed this information to stay safe. The silence between you and Ashley was deafening, you could even hear her breathing and it made you conflicted even more towards her. Previously, you didn’t have a problem with her- Chris liked her so you tried to be a good older sibling, and welcome her. However, she had just gotten Emily killed over a bite that wouldn’t have turned her. 

Ashley was the only person you were with in the entire lodge, you had to put feelings aside if you wanted to survive with someone other than yourself. Neither of you could stand being in the same room as Emily’s body, you leave the room without looking back and head to the main foyer of the Washington’s lodge and check that all entrance ways to the building are locked. As you sat on one of the sofas placed in front of the fireplace that was housing untouched logs ready to be burnt, you couldn’t help but feel that this house was no longer a home to you, and more like a crypt that was waiting to house more bodies. Hours must have crawled by and there was still no sign of any other of your friends, Ashley had grown restless and began wondering the lower half of the lodge. You had been stuck in a state similar to a trance, lost in your thoughts and recounting the memories of the night that had been endured. You were brought out of your thoughts in a harsh manner, jolting back to reality when you hear Ashley screaming Chris’s name, her hands pressed to the glass of the window of the door as she looked outside. 

Heart hammering so hard against your chest that you swear the organ was ready to break the bone, but you ignored the potential danger of that and your legs carried you to stand next to Ashley in a matter of seconds. There had been no word from anyone, you hadn’t seen Chris since he had disappeared with the stranger in a quest to find his best friend, and it was a relief to see your baby brother running towards the lodge. He looked wounded, limping slightly as pure terror was expressed on his face as he trekked closer to you and Ashley. His hands clutch to the rifle in his hands, he loses his footing and stumbles every now and then, but he keeps his balance as your eyes land on the Wendigo behind him in hot pursuit. Ashley was standing in front of the door, blocking you from it as she keeps her hand on the door handle, but she doesn’t budge.  
“What are you waiting for?! Open the door!” You scream at her, watching as her free hand moves to rest on the lock, then stops. Your whole world starts crumbling, unravelling at the seams as Ashley stands there pulling at the threads. Your body fails to function, it was similar to standing beside yourself and watching the events unravel before you. Chris reaches the porch, almost slamming himself into the door as he grabs the handle and rattling it to get entrance. Ashley blocked you from doing anything, she stood there as she watches Chris stand on the other side of the door as the Wendigo gets closer.  
“Ash! Ash, come on this thing is RIGHT BEHIND ME! Please! Let me IN!” Chris pleads, his voice breaking as he tries in desperation to get into the lodge. He pounds his hand against the glass, tears in his blue eyes as he watches the woman he loves refusing to save him with a blank expression.  
“Ash? Wha-what are you doing?” Ashley moves with one final shove, she stumbles backwards and away from the door as you fumble with the door handle and the lock. You needed to save him, you needed to pull your baby brother in here and save him if she won’t.  
“CHRIS!” You scream his name as you hear the lock click to indicate that it was unlocked, you pull on the handle but freeze when you see the clawed and paled hand of the Wendigo take a hold of the crown of Chris’s head. You feel your body being pulled back, watching as your hands and pulled from the door and you brother in need.  
“[F/N]!” Chris cries for you as he is pulled away from the safety of the lodge by the Wendigo, he drops the gun and tries to fight but it’s fruitless. You screamed until your throat was raw, vision blurred with tears as you watched your brother’s fate helplessly from inside the lodge. You cave in when you witness the Wendigo pierce its untamed claws through Chris’s neck, severing his jugular and causing blood to spray onto the pure white snow. Your body doubles over in physical pain as you howl in misery, vaguely aware of Ashley holding you as your knees hit the wooden ground- your entire body convulsing in anguish as your eyes follow the Wendigo’s actions. Without shame, it decapitates Chris’s head, lets it bounce on the floor and roll a few feet before coming to a stop. You watch the life drain from his eyes along with the blood from his neck, pooling and tainting the snow underneath the disconnected head. The Wendigo observes you and Ashley, quickly coming to the conclusion that it would not be able to get to either of you, and it promptly skits away from the lodge and leaves behind the devastation. 

Chris looked cold out there, alone in the snow with his blood leaving his body before his sister and what he thought was his lover. Soon, Ashley’s touch becomes like fire, and it burns to even been near her after what had just happened. You shove her away, not caring as she falls to the floor and whimpers with the sudden impact. You crawl towards the door, ignoring the growing numbness in your knees and the sure bruises that would be formed there, and you pull yourself up to stand. With a lethargic hand, you raise your arm to the handle and you open the door. The click of the mechanisms allowing you to open the door causes your eye to flinch, the door swings open to give you access to the outside world. A whirlwind of ice and the breath of snow wraps around you, and without needing to prompt your body, your legs carry you out and onto the porch, not stopping until you reach your brother’s body. You kneel, snow being absorbed into the fabric around your knees and wetting the skin underneath to seep in more of the cold from winter. Your fingers close Chris’s eyes, letting him rest in peace without having to see the face of the woman he loved, of the woman who betrayed him. You take his glasses that had fallen when his head landed on the ground, fold the arms and stare at the shattered glass that had been there to aid him. You place his glasses in your pocket, raising to your feet and just staring at his body for a moment. 

You remember Ashley, you recall that she is in the lodge, and that she did this to him. Your head snaps to face her at an alarming speed, your hair whipping around and almost cutting your numbing skin. She hadn’t moved from when you shoved her, sat on the floor like a pile of useless trash just waiting around to be moved, just getting in the way. All colour drains from her face when her eyes lock with yours, and she begins shuffling backwards into the lodge as you walk towards her.  
“He loved you.” You hear your voice and feel your lips moving, but you don’t recognise your own articulation to the girl shaking in terror. Without conscious thought, your legs moved of their own accord as your fingers itched for revenge. The snow crunched and clumped under your boots as you trek back towards the safety of the lodge, your eyes burning holes into the redheaded girl who is cowering from your wrath. You were only made aware of your tears through the harsh wind of the mountain, your eyes stinging as your throat tightened at the looping memory of your brother being murdered by that creature with the aid of Ashley.  
“He loved you, and you killed him.” Your hands begin to shake as you step into the lodge, slamming the door shut behind you to forcibly exile the death of your brother, leaving him alone in the snowy grave he was given. Ashley was pleading, crying your name for forgiveness but it only pushed you further to the brink of no return. She had huddled herself backwards until her back hit the wall behind her, blocking her from any escape, and she pulled her knees to her chest in an attempt to shrink away from the consequences of her actions.  
“P-Please! [F/N]!” Ashley begs, tracks of her tears streaking down her face as she attempts to appeal to your merciful side. In turn, you hold out your hands to her, which she studies like a frightened animal. Her green eyes flick from your outstretch hands to your own eyes, searching for an answer that you refused to reveal. Tentatively, she inches forward, uncurling herself until your hands cup her cheeks. Her smooth skin is cold to the touch, the texture making your blood run cold as she inches closer to your seemingly forgiving hands. She’s apologising, begging for a mercy that only you could give her, but they fell on deaf ears. Your fingers run over her skin, tracing a selective trail from her cheeks over her jaw and to her neck. You could feel the blood pumping through the enlarged vein on her neck, her eyes barely had time to open and voice had no time to ask what you were doing. A sense of tranquillity fills you from the inside, radiating from your broken heart outwards until there was a light tingling in the tips of your fingers as you dug them into Ashley’s neck. Ashley began spluttering the moment you had begun to force your digits into her throat, attacking her jugular and cutting off the airway of her windpipe. Her body thrashed and writhed under your assault, nevertheless you were stronger than the younger girl. Her manicured nails began clawing at the flesh of your hands, drawing blood and leaving marks that will scar later. She was choking on nothing, doing everything in her power to attempt to get air to her burning lungs, however your eyes were dark and full of intent to kill.  
“He loved you. You should have saved him.” Her eyes widen in horror as you clench your jaw, grinding your teeth together as your hold around her neck continued to be vice-like. 

You push yourself to your feet, dragging her across the tiled flooring of the lodge towards one of the sturdy wooden pillars that kept the house up. Her legs worked to fight back against your attack, wriggling in all directions to find a way out of your grip and get away from your murderous intent. You were having none of it, with a final squeeze to her throat, you trade your grip on her neck to her hair. Taking a clump of silky red locks at the back of her head, your watch as your abuse on her neck began to show evidence of your battery. Her hands attempt to pull away from you, her pleas now hoarse and barely audible due to the damage on her oesophagus, however you had no intention of letting her off this easily. With your hold on her hair and the strength of a grieving sister, you push her head forward and point-bank strike her face into the wooden pillar. The first blow only hurts her, but as you continue to smash her face into the pillar, the more the squelching of blood and broken bones became more intense.  
“Oh my God…” You stop when you hear a voice that doesn’t belong to you or Ashley, your fingers still woven in her hair with some of her locks torn from her scalp. Her body was limp, but she was still standing, delirious with agony and the trauma inflicted on her. You turn to look over your shoulder, spotting the witness immediately as he stood there frozen to the spot and watching you as though you were a different person.  
“Just…let her go, [F/N].” Mike tries, his hands raised slightly to indicate he was no threat to you, and he attempts to step forward to defuse the situation. You shake your head, the anger that you had harboured before had numbed from seeking revenge to finishing the job.  
“Mike…” Ashley whimpers, the broken tone of her voice reflecting the broken state she was in. You notice Mike wince at the sound of her, his face paling as he takes in the mutilation of her neck and head. Exhaustion was seeping into your bones, and it was getting harder to continuously tear down Ashley, but you refused to let her go. She had to pay.  
“[F/N].” Mike calls your name, swimming through the dark fog that was surrounding your rational. Fresh tears blur your vision, and you hoped he saw your apology burning from your eyes, but you turn away from the redemption he offered to return to the matter at hand. Ashley no longer put up a fight, her body limp and barely standing as you manoeuvre her a few steps away from the pillar. She left behind a bloody mess on the once stainless wood, evidence of your assault on the girl, and you move her so she stands in front of you.  
“I’m sorry.” She whimpers, shaking as you once again cup her almost unrecognisable face in your hands. She winces at the contact, searing hot pain coursing through her as you stay silent and unmoved. Your grip tightens slightly, and she closes her eyes in a sick act of acceptance. The snap of her neck is heard, the unnatural move of her head accompanies it, and you let her lifeless body hit the tiles. 

Mike bends at the waist to throw up, the sound of whatever was left in his stomach is heard through splatters of it hitting the floor of the lodge. His heaving continues for a short amount as he expels the image of the murder of one of his friends from his body. When he is finished, he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, and turns to face the window as to not have to look at Ashley’s newly dead corpse. He is unable to form any words, unable to ask why, but he gets all the answers he needs when he looks outside and spots Chris’s decapitated body. He gags once more, the blood that once supported his life was spilled on the snow and became to become one with it, dying the mountain with his essence.  
“We need to go.” Mike tells you, tearing his gaze away from the two bodies that were only feet apart. He didn’t need to know what happened, he didn’t honestly want to know what happened. His priority was getting someone alive off of this mountain, whatever you had done was yours to carry on your shoulders. 

\----

Winding through the tunnels of the long-forgotten mine that connect the Washington Lodge to the sanatorium further up the mountain was enough to sap the warmth and energy from you. The frosty environment on the surface ensured that the mines felt like a never-ending walk-in freezer, ready to numb you to the bone and preserve you for the Wendigos. Mike’s mission was to locate and save Josh, and he refused to leave you alone after your vicious murder of Ashley. The consistent murmur of the same voice talking to others that were not there led you straight to the damaged man, still in his get-up of blue overalls but the mask had been ditched. He was different than when he was above ground terrorising the group with his pranks, he was genuinely scared and lost in the darkness of his mind that the others had created for him. Pulling him out of the episode he was enduring on his own in the mines was not an easy task, but when he was somewhat grounded on unstable means, you helped Mike guide him out of the dangers that lurked in these abandoned tunnels. 

This was the Wendigo’s home, the three of you were trespassing. Josh stayed close to you and Mike, like a lost child that needed to cling to his parent’s clothes to ensure he would not be left behind or forgotten. Mike paused when he reached the natural lake, it was just a matter of crossing the murky waters to reach the other side, afterwards it was just a straight path back to the lodge where Sam was waiting. You didn’t want to get in the water, you couldn’t see what was hiding in there, you didn’t know how deep it went, and you didn’t want to chance catching pneumonia by being drenched and then trekking through snow to get back to the lodge. However, you had no choice- this was a point of survival, the helicopter that Matt and Emily had contacted was on its way, and you didn’t want to be another body they had to zip up in a black bag to be sent home and identified by your family. 

You take the plunge into the mine’s lake, the only light given was the illumination from the moon outside that peeked in through the gaps in the mountain side. The initial shock of the water’s temperature caused your breath to catch in your throat, the intense coldness of the water squeezed out any noise you could muster, only to be stopped from echoing in the cavern by Mike’s hand over your mouth. Tears pricked your eyes as you wished for death, anything to take away the stinging polar coldness of the water that pierced through your clothes and skin to freeze your innards. The natural response of shivering caused your teeth to chatter, a warning look from Mike and his finger pressed to his lips in a silent order to be quiet was all you received. You covered your own mouth, forcing your jaw to stay still as the barely noticeable reverberations of a Wendigo scuttling around in search for its next meal met your ears. 

Mike took the lead, taking one step through the water at a time, careful to disturb the water as little as possible as to not announce the trio’s presence to any unwanted guests. Josh waded through the lake behind you, and you would turn your head to check on him every now and then, but he was busy concentrating on his footing. You face forward, looking past Mike at the other end of the lake where you would be one step closer to safety. There was barely any time to decipher the events that happened next until you were dragged underwater, being fully submerged by surprise forced out the air harboured in your lungs. There was a hand wrapped around your wrist, hauling you through the water like you weighed nothing, and you found some sense of ease feeling that it was a human hand that had a hold of you. You break the water’s surface for air, gasping for air that didn’t hurt your body to take in, only to have it cut off by Mike’s rough hand over your mouth. You piece together that he had drug you under the water, understanding his reasoning why when you hear the unnatural screech of a Wendigo in the lake. You watch with Mike from the safety of the bank, hidden by the natural formation of the cave as the Wendigo picks up Josh by the neck as though he was a toy made of plastic. He screamed and kicked, desperate for escape, crying out to you and Mike for any bit of hope you could provide. From your place on the other side of the bank, Josh spots you and begs with his terrified brown eyes. In return, he is greeted with a pair of blank eyes and a soulless grimace. You shake your head at him, refusing any help that you could possible give. 

\---

Returning to the lodge filled you with bittersweet emotions, a tidal wave of memories crashes against you in a barrage of conflicting feelings as you recall the happy times and the death of your friends. The stone and wood that created this sanctuary was soaked in the blood of friends, turning it from safety to a crypt. You follow Mike in silence obedience, he had kept the secret of you butchering Ashley to himself, but you knew it came at a price. His shoulders were already broken under the events that had brought the remaining three of you to this point in time. You are brought out of your own thoughts by Sam, the pretty blonde embraces you and then Mike as soon as she sets eyes on the two of you.  
“Oh thank God the two of you are okay, I saw Ash, I think one of them got in.” Sam says in a rushed tone, pain evident in her voice at the discovery of Ashley in the other room of the lodge. “And Chris, oh [F/N], I’m so sorry.” A chill comes over you, flashes of Ashley’s maimed cadaver are brought before your eyes as a result of her sending Chris to his execution. Mike clears his throat.  
“I know, I found Ash and Chris when I got back from the tunnels.” His voice is sincere, skirting around certain words as though not to upset either you or Sam. “[F/N] was hiding in a storage cupboard.” Mike lies to Sam, but she takes the bait. You know she isn’t a dumb girl, she knew a Wendigo didn’t butcher Ash, but before she can press you about what transpired, the same unnatural screech is heard- the calling card of the Wendigo. 

The three of you remain still, freezing to the spot with only your hearts beating and the barely detectable raise and fall of your chests as any indication of movement for this deadly creature. You had left the door open, given them an opportunity to enter the lodge, and they had taken it- drawn by noise and the visual of movement through solid objects. You watched the spirits that had inhabited the once human bodies and had twisted them into a perverted image of elongated bone covered by ashen skin jerk and twitch with unnaturally fast movements as they searched the lodge for a victim. With ease, they sprang to scuttle along walls and up to the second floor, allowing Sam and Mike to set up a trap. The lodge had been fitted with gas lamps, the smell had always made your head ache, but now you had never smelt anything so beautiful in your life. The two moved cautiously to each lamp they could see on the ground floor of the lodge, wary of the Wendigos that stalked throughout the building for the slightly sign of life. The two creatures had begun to fight, attacking one another with a brutality that made you sick to the stomach as it reminded you of what you could have done to Ashley. However, you were thankful that the two territorial beings had started their attack on one another, it gave Sam and Mike a better chance of setting up this trap. As the two released the gas from the lamps, you backtracked to the door, ready for a quick escape if the worst was to come. 

What felt like an eternity later, Sam and Mike had the trap set, all that was needed was a spark and the whole place would go up in flame. You communicate to the two via facial expressions and eye movement, stopping in your tracks when the Wendigo lands on the first floor in front of Mike. He stops when one of the Wendigos slams the other into the floor, holding up its limp body from the ground before effortlessly tearing its head from its body. You bite your tongue, terror inside of you as you watch the decapitated head of the deceased Wendigo roll on the floor, if that creature could do that to one of its own kind, you didn’t want to know what it could do to humans. Sam, in a moment of repulsion and fear, takes a step back to get away from the ruthless and savage murder that just occurred. Her foot lands on a loose floorboard, a subtle squeak was enough to alert the dominant Wendigo and for it to turn towards the blonde girl. You pray to whatever holy deity you could think of, praying that this sweet girl makes it off this mountain if the rest of you lose your lives in the meantime. You watch the Wendigo stalk towards the noise of the creaking floorboard that had alerted it of her presence, praying that she would be able to stay still long enough for it to get distracted. 

You hold your breath as Mike reaches another lamp, wrapping his hand around the glass of the bulb and squeezing to shatter it. It cracks under the pressure and breaks, adding more gas to the room for the final stage of the trap. The noise grabs the Wendigo’s attention, causing it to hop onto the armchair and hiss at the direction of the sound. It skits closer towards Mike, using all four limbs to move as it jerks around- desperate to locate the source of the disturbance. You motion to Sam, Mike didn’t have a chance if she doesn’t go to save him. You see her inner conflict, she had the choice to save Mike or run to the next switch. Helplessly, you watch as Sam does neither- she sticks her ground and refuses to move to either option and you watched in despair as the Wendigo locates Mike. It sniffs around him before letting out a shriek of recognition, grasping his whole head in its clawed hand and pulling him away from the wall. He screams in fear as the shadow of what was once human flings him across the room with ease, leaving him unmoving as his back hits one of the wooden pillars. 

Aware that this was the last chance you may have of escaping whilst the Wendigo is distracted and now stalking towards Sam, your feet move on their own as your body moves backwards and towards the open door. The tall creature approaches Sam, towering over her as it sniffs out another potential prey. She shakes, her breathing uncontrollable as she realises that this will be how she dies. The Wendigo snarls before letting out a roar that human vocal chords could not naturally make, its head snapping back and forth in search for the life it knows that is there. Its glassy eyes stop searching when it lands on Sam’s face, jaw dropping to release another shriek of triumph at finding another life. Revealing its sharpened teeth to her, its large hand grasps Sam’s face and lifts her up off the ground. In one quick movement, it brings its free hand up and embeds its lethal claws into Sam’s stomach. You tear your gaze away from her as the life seeps from her body, the sickening sound of the creature forcing its arm through her body causes the bile to burn your throat and collect in your mouth. 

Movement from Mike catches your eyes, he meets your gaze for a brief second before giving you a soft smile. Sam’s dead body hits the floor, fresh blood on the Wendigo’s arm as it turns in search for another victim. Mike nods his head at you, rummaging in his jacket before revealing the silver lighter. Your stomach drops as you understand his message, you give him a curt nod, a miniscule thank you, before turning on your heels and running. The explosion is triggered the moment you get two feet out of the front door, it blasts out your ears and throws you off your feet. The fire cinders your clothes, burning the skin underneath as you are propelled away from the burning lodge and into the cushion of the snow. You turn to lay on your back, mesmerised by the fire engulfing the lodge that was the final resting place of all of your friends. 

\----

Wood crackling and the burning of priceless memories kept you company until the ranger helicopter arrived, spotting the fire on the silent mountain and beelining right for you. As you waited in the snow watching the lodge burn to the ground, you held onto Chris’s broken glasses and felt a weight lift from you as the sun begins to rise. Dawn started to peek over the destruction that this mountain had caused, your body ached from pure exhaustion and the multiple wounds you had gathered over the night. You stood when the rangers found you, the unmistakeable sound of the propellers bring you out of your thoughts and into the present. As soon as it landed, the pilot waited as a medic and a ranger rush towards you. They asked many questions that you couldn’t answer, but you told them that you were the only one left and they took you away from the burning lodge that still presented danger. As the helicopter levitated into the sky and began to take you away from the nightmare this mountain had given you, tears rolled over your cheeks as your hands clutched to the glasses that would never be worn again. You close your eyes, focusing on the sound of the helicopter, the wind rushing by, and the voices of the medic as they attempt to patch you up the best they can before reaching the town at the bottom of the mountain.  
“It’s okay. You’re safe now.” The pilot says to you, directing the helicopter away from the lodge and to the town. You took steady breaths, preparing yourself for the intense questioning the police were bound to subject you to.


End file.
